Telecom Infrastructure Equipment Update (June–July 2025)
Industry Market Outlook and Forecasts
The global telecommunications infrastructure sector in mid-2025 is at a crossroads. After the initial 5G rollout boom, overall telco network spending has leveled off. Analysts report that worldwide telecom equipment revenues fell about 11% in 2024, and 2025 is expected to be essentially flat telecomtv.com telecomtv.com. All major segments (radio access, optical transport, core, etc.) saw declines last year except fixed broadband access, which held steady telecomtv.com. Key factors include excess inventory, a challenging macroeconomy, and difficult year-over-year comparisons after early 5G builds telecomtv.com. Dell’Oro Group forecasts “market conditions to stabilize in 2025” but with no robust recovery, making it another challenging year for vendors telecomtv.com.
Vendor rankings remain relatively unchanged with Huawei still dominating global telecom equipment market share (~31%) – more than Nokia (14%) and Ericsson (13%) combined telecomtv.com. Notably, even excluding China’s massive domestic market, Huawei remains the largest supplier globally according to Dell’Oro telecomtv.com. Ericsson and Nokia continue to lead in most Western markets, while Huawei (and smaller peer ZTE) command leadership in China and many emerging markets sdxcentral.com telecomtv.com. Samsung is a strong third option in markets excluding Chinese vendors sdxcentral.com. This vendor landscape reflects geopolitical divisions and 5G rollout patterns: Ericsson and Nokia have a strong presence in Europe and North America, Huawei and ZTE dominate in Asia (especially China) and parts of Africa, with Samsung filling gaps where Chinese vendors are restricted sdxcentral.com.
Looking forward, forecasts are mixed. Frost & Sullivan predicts global carrier 5G infrastructure spending will grow at a modest ~2% CAGR over the next five years, driven mostly by continued 5G radio deployments sdxcentral.com. In contrast, MTN Consulting projects telecom capital expenditures to decline from $314 billion in 2023 to around $280 billion by 2028, suggesting tighter budgets sdxcentral.com. On the network traffic side, Ericsson’s June 2025 Mobility Report offers an optimistic view of demand: 5G subscriptions are on track to reach ~2.9 billion by end of 2025 (about one-third of all mobile subs) ericsson.com, and could grow to 6.3 billion by 2030. Mobile data usage continues to rise (19% YoY increase in Q1 2025), and 5G networks are expected to carry 80% of global mobile traffic by 2030 (up from 35% at end of 2024) ericsson.com. However, the report notes the growth rate of data usage is slowing as the market matures ericsson.com.
Industry leaders stress that monetization of these new networks is a critical challenge. “We are at an inflection point, where 5G and the ecosystem are set to unleash a wave of innovation,” says Ericsson CTO Erik Ekudden, but this depends on deploying standalone 5G cores and mid-band coverage to enable new services ericsson.com ericsson.com. Ekudden notes operators are starting to move beyond basic data plans and “monetize [5G] through innovative service offerings”, but unlocking 5G’s full potential requires continued investment in 5G Standalone (SA) networks and advanced capabilities ericsson.com. Similarly, Huawei’s rotating chairman Eric Xu observes that after “nearly four decades of rapid growth, the [telecom] industry has entered a period of steady development” with new growth needing to come from fresh value-added services prnewswire.com.
Despite near-term spending caution, specific high-growth areas are emerging. Private 5G networks for enterprises, industrial 5G applications, and cloud/edge services are areas where Nokia, Ericsson, and others see potential. Omdia, for example, identified Nokia, ZTE, and Ericsson as leaders in private wireless deployments as of mid-2025. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is also booming as an extension of 5G: Ericsson reports that over 80% of surveyed operators offer FWA, and more than half now sell tiered speed plans enabled by 5G (up from 40% a year prior) ericsson.com. FWA is projected to account for 35% of new broadband connections through 2030 (reaching 350 million total FWA subscriptions) as operators use 5G to deliver home internet in areas fiber can’t easily reach ericsson.com. In short, telecom infrastructure markets are in transition – overall spending is plateauing, but 5G-related traffic and use cases are growing, forcing operators and vendors to seek new revenue streams (like advanced 5G services, enterprise solutions, and FWA) to justify continued investments.
5G Rollouts and 5.5G (Advanced 5G) Developments
5G network rollouts continued worldwide through June 2025, with a shift toward 5G-Advanced (5.5G) upgrades and standalone 5G cores. In the Middle East, Kuwait’s Zain became one of the first carriers in the region to launch commercial 5G-Advanced services across most of the country lightreading.com. Zain is promoting the new service tier with promises of higher speeds for UHD streaming, faster downloads, and low-latency gaming, even offering a free 30-day trial to entice subscribers lightreading.com. (Zain had initially been a 5G pioneer in the Gulf, deploying 5G back in 2019.) This reflects a broader trend as operators move beyond basic 5G into the “5G-A” era to deliver enhanced capabilities.
China has emerged as the global leader in 5.5G adoption. By mid-2025, Chinese operators had already upgraded over 300 cities with 5G-Advanced networks and signed up more than 10 million 5G-A users on premium mobile plans prnewswire.com. All three major Chinese carriers (China Mobile, Telecom, Unicom) are working with Huawei and ZTE on 5G-A rollouts. During Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2025 in late June, Huawei highlighted China’s head start and noted that commercial 5G-A deployment is expected to accelerate in other regions like the Middle East and Asia-Pacific later in 2025 prnewswire.com. Operators in those markets are actively exploring experience-based monetization – for example, introducing premium 5G tiers with guaranteed quality or higher uplink speeds for certain applications prnewswire.com prnewswire.com.
At MWC Shanghai, Huawei showcased its latest 5G-A innovations under the theme “Accelerating the Intelligent World.” One focus was integrating AI agents with 5G networks to enable new services. Huawei’s deputy chairman Eric Xu, in a keynote, outlined growth opportunities like: meeting new user demands (e.g. XR/VR), bringing 5G connectivity to vehicles, and leveraging fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) for small businesses to support AI applications prnewswire.com. He acknowledged current industry challenges, noting growth has slowed, but presented these pathways for carriers to reignite growth in the 5G era prnewswire.com prnewswire.com. A major theme was that carriers can use AI and 5.5G capabilities to transform their services and operations, positioning themselves not just as connectivity providers but as platforms for personalized digital “agents,” smart home integration, and vehicle connectivity prnewswire.com. In Huawei’s view, telcos’ strengths in networks and cloud put them in a unique position to drive the next wave of AI-driven services prnewswire.com.
Vendors are responding with technology to support these advanced 5G scenarios. ZTE, for instance, introduced its “5G-A AgentGuard” solution at MWC Shanghai – a network intelligence tool designed for the AI era samenacouncil.org. AgentGuard deeply integrates 5G Advanced networking with native AI capabilities to provide deterministic, on-demand network performance for AI-driven services samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. In practical terms, it transforms the traditional static network QoS rules into an intelligent, dynamic guarantee mechanism that can recognize and adapt to the needs of AI “agents” (autonomous applications) in real time samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. With the rise of large-language-model based assistants and autonomous devices, ZTE noted that AI applications often require high uplink bandwidth and ultra-low latency – for example, a digital assistant might constantly send voice, video, and sensor data to the cloud for processing samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. The AgentGuard system uses AI in the network to identify when traffic is originating from an AI agent vs. a human, determine the agent’s objective (e.g. ordering food, booking tickets), and then allocate network resources granularly for each step of the task samenacouncil.org. In demos, ZTE showed this can boost uplink speeds and cut latency by 20%+ for AI-heavy services like voice assistant interactions, ensuring “smooth and accurate execution of digital agents” on 5G-A networks samenacouncil.org. This kind of capability will be crucial for making 5G networks a platform for AI applications going forward.
Open RAN, a once-hyped disruptor in mobile infrastructure, saw more tempered developments. Many operators and vendors have grown cautious on open RAN due to integration challenges. A UK-based open RAN test lab (Digital Catapult’s facility in London) received official OTIC certification from the O-RAN Alliance in June, indicating ongoing progress in testing and validating open RAN solutions lightreading.com. But incumbent suppliers are confident their integrated offerings will continue to dominate. A Light Reading analysis in June suggested Ericsson and Nokia have “vanquished the open RAN threat,” as large-scale deployments by new entrants have yet to materialize lightreading.com. Indeed, traditional RAN vendors are evolving their products – for example, Nokia’s latest AirScale massive MIMO radios and basebands (announced with Elisa Finland) promise both high performance and energy efficiency news.europawire.eu news.europawire.eu – making it harder for open RAN alternatives to compete on cost or capability.
In terms of regional 5G status, North America and Europe have nearly completed their initial 5G buildouts. Mid-band 5G coverage in Europe surpassed 50% of the population by end of 2024, which is roughly on par with the global average, though behind North America (~90% mid-band coverage) and notably behind India, which achieved an impressive 95% mid-band coverage in just over a year of 5G rollout ericsson.com. Europe’s operators are now focused on filling coverage gaps and deploying Standalone 5G cores to enable advanced services. In the UK, BT’s EE had its 5G SA core live covering 40% of the population by spring 2025, providing a platform for network slicing and low-latency services ericsson.com. EE branded its SA launch as “More than a network upgrade” – highlighting new applications like mobile private networks and quality-on-demand video streaming that SA 5G makes possible ericsson.com.
India’s 5G rollout (led by Jio and Bharti Airtel) continues at breakneck speed since launching in late 2022. By mid-2025, India had well over 200 million 5G subscribers and extremely broad coverage (as noted above). In June, Bharti Airtel awarded Ericsson a multi-year contract to manage its nationwide Network Operations Center (NOC), extending a long partnershipairtel.in. This managed services deal will see Ericsson AI-driven tools used to monitor and optimize Airtel’s networks across India. It illustrates how vendors are increasingly providing not just hardware but also operational expertise and automation to help carriers run these complex 5G networks efficiently.
Elsewhere in Asia-Pacific, Malaysia’s largest mobile operator CelcomDigi partnered with Ericsson on “intent-based” autonomous network operations to cope with 5G complexity (announced slightly earlier in Q2) telecomlead.com telecomlead.com. And in Australia, Optus selected Ericsson for a new 5G antenna upgrade to boost network performance and energy efficiency ericsson.com. These kinds of enhancements – from smarter NOCs to better radios – show the ongoing optimization phase of 5G in many markets.
In summary, June–July 2025 saw 5G moving into a new phase: enhancing networks for higher performance and new services rather than just expanding basic coverage. The term “5G Advanced” is more than a buzzword; it encompasses real upgrades like uplink boosters, network automation, and AI integration. Major operators in advanced markets are testing ways to monetize these upgrades (e.g. premium plans, enterprise use cases), while in emerging markets the focus is on closing coverage gaps and managing network costs. Telecom vendors are central to this evolution, providing solutions like intelligent RAN features, end-to-end network slicing, and AI-powered management to make 5G networks more than just a data pipe.
Fiber Optic and Broadband Infrastructure Expansion
Even as wireless grabs headlines, fiber-optic infrastructure buildout remains a fundamental pillar of telecom investment in 2025. Many carriers are pushing fiber deeper into networks – to support 5G backhaul, to connect homes and businesses directly, and to link data centers.
In the United States, AT&T achieved a major milestone in June: reaching 30 million locations passed with fiber in its network about.att.com. This exceeds AT&T’s original goal (hit ahead of schedule) and solidifies its position as the largest fiber broadband provider in the U.S. The company’s CEO John Stankey noted they are “halfway to [the] goal” of ~60 million locations by 2030, and lauded the team’s multi-year effort building “the nation’s largest and fastest-growing fiber network” about.att.com. AT&T’s fiber expansion, which has involved over $140 billion of investment since 2020 (including fiber builds and 5G spectrum), is seen as critical to its strategy of converged fiber+5G offerings about.att.com about.att.com. In fact, AT&T is complementing organic buildouts with strategic deals: it announced plans to acquire fiber assets from Lumen (CenturyLink’s parent) to gain millions more fiber passings across 11 states about.att.com about.att.com. AT&T also formed a joint venture (Gigapower) to deploy fiber beyond its traditional territory. All these moves aim to double the fiber footprint and enable multi-gigabit internet services that can be bundled with 5G wireless. The payoff is significant: since 2020, AT&T has added 5.7 million new fiber subscribers, and fiber ARPU and satisfaction are high about.att.com. Fiber is seen as future-proof: “virtually no limits” on bandwidth, as one Nokia executive put it when discussing upgrades globenewswire.com.
Other U.S. operators are following suit. For instance, Verizon and Frontier also continue to extend fiber, and even T-Mobile – traditionally a wireless-only player – launched a fiber home broadband pilot (announced in early June) to deliver gigabit service in select cities t-mobile.com. And on the policy side, the U.S. government’s BEAD program (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) is kicking into gear with updated rules in June to accelerate rural fiber deployments blog.3-gis.com. Rural fiber demand is surging thanks to such subsidies, and smaller ISPs/utilities are stepping up their fiber builds in underserved areas (for example, electric co-ops in states like Missouri and Alabama are laying fiber, as noted in industry news recaps).
In Europe, national fiber initiatives continue aggressively, especially in countries like the UK, Germany, and France that historically relied on copper/DSL. BT Openreach in the UK hit ~11 million premises passed with fiber by mid-2025 (on its way to 25 million by 2026), and June saw steady progress updates on these full-fiber rollouts thinkbroadband.com. Governments are also exploring alternate technologies (like 5G FWA or LEO satellites) for the hardest-to-reach areas, but by and large, fiber is the preferred solution for future-proof access.
A notable development in June was Nokia’s involvement in upgrading municipal broadband networks. Nokia was selected by the City of Elberton, Georgia (USA) to modernize its local broadband from old cable systems to a 25G fiber network globenewswire.com. This small city project (serving ~10,000 households) is emblematic of a broader trend: towns and electric cooperatives investing in fiber for their communities. Nokia is supplying Elberton with next-gen fiber access nodes and IP routers capable of multi-gig and future 25 Gbps passive optical network (PON) technology globenewswire.com globenewswire.com. The goal is a “future-ready” fiber infrastructure that can support the community’s needs in education, telehealth, remote work and beyond globenewswire.com globenewswire.com. Nokia noted that its solution allows Elberton to start with XGS-PON (10 Gbps) and smoothly upgrade to 25G and even 50G PON when needed globenewswire.com. This kind of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) upgrade is happening not just in cities but also for utilities and regional ISPs across North America and Europe, often with Nokia, Adtran, Cisco, and others as technology partners.
Asia is also witnessing rapid fiber expansion. China leads the world in FTTH penetration, and its major carriers are now deploying 50G PON in pilot projects to eventually enable even higher bandwidth (important for backhauling 5G and future 6G). Meanwhile, emerging markets in Asia and Africa are leveraging fiber for backbone and metro networks even if last-mile fiber is less common. For example, in the Philippines, Converge ICT – a leading fiber broadband ISP – announced a collaboration with Nokia in late June to equip its new data centers with a high-performance fiber switching fabric (more details in the Data Center section) samenacouncil.org. And in Africa, 2025 has seen an uptick in fiber buildouts often funded by development banks and public-private partnerships to improve internet access. Subsea fiber cables are also expanding: June saw progress on new submarine cable systems (like 2Africa and others) that will increase international capacity for Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia once completed.
It’s worth noting the integration of fiber with other infrastructure. A standout example from Shanghai, China (showcased at MWC Shanghai) was a “Premium PON Gateway” for smart campuses by China Telecom and ZTE samenacouncil.org. This is essentially an all-optical campus network solution that converges fiber connectivity with edge computing and security. In a high-tech park in Shanghai, they deployed an end-to-end fiber network to every building (supporting gigabit and 10G access) and then layered on intelligent features: power-over-fiber to simplify powering devices, built-in AI edge computing (130 TOPS of processing for local data like video analytics), and an integrated security system that unifies surveillance cameras and access control samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. The fiber backbone provides “lossless” high-speed links, and on top of that, AI algorithms analyze video feeds for intrusions and optimize energy usage in real time samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. The result was a dramatic improvement in that smart park – zero network downtime and 50% faster security incident response, according to the operators samenacouncil.org. This case highlights how fiber isn’t just about raw bandwidth; when combined with computing and intelligent management, fiber networks can transform into platforms for smart services (smart city, campus, enterprise applications).
In summary, fiber optic expansion remains in high gear even in the 5G era. Telcos and governments recognize that robust fiber underpins everything: it carries mobile traffic on the back end and delivers multi-gigabit fixed broadband to fuel the digital economy. The June 2025 period underlined both the breadth (millions of new fiber passes, rural and urban) and the depth (moving to 10G, 25G, and specialized solutions) of fiber deployments. The investments are huge – AT&T alone spent over $140B in four years about.att.com about.att.com – but fiber is seen as a generational infrastructure with long-term payback. As Nokia’s fiber VP said, a modern fiber network has “virtually no limits” and is “the right step… so cities aren’t left behind in the digital economy” globenewswire.com globenewswire.com.
Satellite Communications Enter the Mainstream
Once a niche adjunct to terrestrial networks, satellite communication systems are rapidly becoming part of the telecom mainstream in 2025. The past month saw significant moves to integrate satellite connectivity directly into consumer mobile services and telecom infrastructure.
In a landmark announcement, T-Mobile US revealed it will launch its first satellite-to-phone service, dubbed “T-Satellite,” on July 23, 2025 reuters.com. This service, powered by SpaceX’s Starlink low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites, aims to eliminate cellular “dead zones” by enabling direct connections between standard mobile phones and satellites. During a late June event, T-Mobile’s network chief Mike Katz shared that over 1.8 million users have already signed up for the beta, including “hundreds of thousands” who are not T-Mobile customers (coming from AT&T and Verizon) reuters.com. This underscores the pent-up demand for ubiquitous coverage.
On launch, T-Satellite will support SMS text, MMS, and brief voice messaging via satellite, and by October 2025 T-Mobile plans to enable modest data services for apps reuters.com. The service will come at no extra cost on certain T-Mobile plans, and notably, even users on other carriers will be able to subscribe for $5–10 per month to use it reuters.com reuters.com. This cross-carrier approach is novel – essentially T-Mobile is offering satellite roaming to competitors’ customers, leveraging its partnership with SpaceX. Technically, SpaceX has now dedicated >650 Starlink satellites to bolster this direct-to-device coverage in the U.S., targeting over 500,000 square miles of previously uncovered terrain (mountains, deserts, ocean areas) reuters.com. This is a major step for satellite in telecom: while earlier efforts (e.g., Apple’s iPhone 14 emergency SOS via Globalstar) were limited to emergency texting, T-Mobile’s is a full commercial messaging service and, eventually, general data connectivity. It demonstrates the blurring line between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (NTN).
Around the same time, regulators and other operators have been laying groundwork for broader satellite integration. In the U.S., the FCC in June adopted new rules to facilitate satellite use of certain bands (12.7 GHz and 42 GHz) “to supplement or complement wireless” services mintz.com. This is part of a push to allocate spectrum for direct-to-device satellite communications that can work in tandem with 5G. Europe’s space and defense agencies are also active – for example, on June 30 the European Defence Agency signed a contract for a new LEO satellite constellation (LEO2VLEO project) aimed at secure communications, which, while defense-focused, will advance Europe’s satellite tech capabilities news.satnews.com.
Telecom standards bodies are acknowledging this convergence as well. 3GPP – the global body behind 5G – has incorporated support for non-terrestrial networks in recent releases. As noted by Airbus’s space division in a March forum, 5G Release 17 and 18 introduced IoT-over-satellite and broadband-over-satellite features, and Release 19 (in development) is focusing on LEO satellite integration for both IoT and broadband lightreading.com lightreading.com. By Release 20, 3GPP will likely enable even smoother interoperability between terrestrial 5G and satellite networks. The motivation is clear: standardized integration could bring costs down and ensure seamless mobility (e.g., a phone moving out of cell range switches to satellite mode without the user noticing). Industry analysts predict investments by telcos and tech firms in satellite communications could total $20 billion in 2025 as this integration accelerates lightreading.com. They also project the satellite telecom service market (satellite broadband, IoT, etc.) could reach $160+ billion in revenue in coming years lightreading.com.
We are already seeing multiple strategies play out: direct-to-device satellite smartphone services (like T-Mobile/SpaceX, AT&T’s partnership with AST SpaceMobile, Apple/Globalstar), and satellite backhaul for cellular (e.g., using satellites to connect rural cell towers). Both are important for extending coverage. In June, news emerged that AT&T and AST SpaceMobile’s prototype satellite successfully relayed its first 5G phone call (following earlier 4G tests in 2023), hinting AT&T may follow T-Mobile with satellite phone services in the future. In Japan, NTT DoCoMo has a similar plan with startups to cover remote islands via satellite.
Satellite broadband for home use is also expanding. SpaceX Starlink’s retail service continues growing (over 1.5 million users globally) and competitor OneWeb (now merged with Europe’s Eutelsat) announced it will start offering satellite internet in India by late 2025, pending regulatory go-ahead livemint.com. In some developing regions, satellites are seen as a quicker way to connect rural populations – although a recent debate in the U.S. (West Virginia) highlighted that local officials prefer fiber over Starlink for long-term reliability despite Starlink’s rapid deployability mountainstatespotlight.org.
Overall, June–July 2025 signals that satellites are no longer an afterthought for telecom. They are becoming complements to ground networks, enabling coverage and resilience that terrestrial towers alone cannot provide. This “network of networks” approach – combining fiber, 5G, Wi-Fi, and satellites – is gaining traction as the blueprint for truly ubiquitous connectivity. Industry experts note that while the revenue from satellite services for telcos is still nascent (and more evident in forecasts than in current earnings) lightreading.com lightreading.com, the strategic value of filling coverage gaps and offering new services is immense. As one report put it, the convergence of satellite and telecom is now “all over the agenda,” and standards and partnerships forged in 2025 will determine how big a role satellites will play in 6G and beyond lightreading.com.
Data Center and Core Network Infrastructure for Telecom
Telecommunications networks are increasingly cloud-based and data-center-centric, especially with 5G and edge computing growth. In mid-2025, telcos and vendors made notable strides in modernizing data center infrastructure, core networks, and automation – all geared toward handling more traffic and new AI/ML workloads.
One major theme is network automation and AI operations for telcos. On June 18, Nokia launched its Autonomous Network Fabric, billed as the industry’s first fully integrated suite of telco-specific AI models and automation tools for network management nokia.com nokia.com. This platform acts as an “intelligence layer” across all network domains (RAN, core, transport) and works in multi-vendor environments nokia.com. Key features include a library of cross-domain data products, AI/ML models trained on telecom data, and built-in security and workflow automation apps nokia.com. In practical terms, Nokia’s Autonomous Network Fabric can ingest massive network data, provide 360-degree observability, and then apply “explainable AI” to automate tasks – from detecting anomalies to self-optimizing network slices nokia.com nokia.com. Nokia expanded its partnership with Google Cloud as part of this launch, integrating Google’s Vertex AI tech so that the platform can run in Google Cloud or on-premises (e.g. on Google Distributed Cloud Edge) as a SaaS application nokia.com nokia.com. Analysts see this as a significant step because operators have been “held back by legacy systems and siloed processes” on the journey to automation nokia.com. With this solution, Nokia claims operators can “reduce complexity… improve reliability and cost” by testing and rolling out new services faster nokia.com. A GlobalData analyst praised the approach, noting that as networks become more autonomous, they’ll require multiple forms of AI and telecom-specific data – which is exactly what Nokia is targeting nokia.com. In short, Nokia is providing carriers an AI-powered brain for their increasingly complex networks.
Core network upgrades also featured prominently. Nokia and Elisa (a Finnish operator) announced a four-year extension of their partnership to upgrade Elisa’s 5G core and data center infrastructure in Finland and Estonia news.europawire.eu. The deal, revealed June 13, includes deployment of Nokia’s latest cloud-native core software and a modern data center fabric. Notably, Elisa will implement Nokia’s Cloud Native Communication Suite to consolidate IMS voice services, reducing core network hardware and energy use by up to 20% news.europawire.eu news.europawire.eu. On the data center side, Nokia is furnishing SR Linux-based data center switches, 7750 service routers for interconnection, and an Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform to automate operations news.europawire.eu news.europawire.eu. Together, these upgrades aim to give Elisa an advanced 5.5G-ready network with ultra-low latency and multi-gig throughput for new applications (AI, VR/AR, industrial automation) news.europawire.eu news.europawire.eu. Importantly, energy efficiency and sustainability are a focus – Nokia’s new AirScale base stations and core software claim significant power savings, and the network automation will help optimize resource use in real time news.europawire.eu. This illustrates how European operators are prepping their networks not only for performance but also for greener operation and easier management as traffic loads grow.
Data centers at the network edge are another growth area. Operators are investing in distributed cloud infrastructure to support low-latency services and to process data closer to users. For example, in Malaysia, CelcomDigi’s tie-up with Ericsson on autonomous networks involves edge analytics to improve performance (as mentioned earlier) telecomlead.com. And globally, companies like AT&T and Verizon are partnering with cloud providers (Microsoft, Google, AWS) to host network functions at edge data centers.
Vendors are capitalizing on this by providing data-center-grade routing and switching to telcos. Nokia has been recognized as a “Visionary” in Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for Data Center Switching, reflecting its push into router-switch solutions for both cloud providers and telcos nokia.com nokia.com. In late June, Nokia announced a win with Converge ICT in the Philippines to build two new core data centers for that ISP samenacouncil.org. Converge will deploy Nokia’s Data Center Fabric solution – 7220 IXR spine-and-leaf switches running SR-Linux, plus Nokia’s Event-Driven Automation – to create a state-of-the-art, AI-ready network in its data centers samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. The aim is to support Converge’s growing broadband user base and also host emerging AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. Converge’s CEO noted they foresee AI and HPC becoming integral to operations and customer services, and thus need their data center network to offer “extreme scalability and reliability” samenacouncil.org. By using Nokia’s automated fabric, Converge can ensure high throughput and low latency, reduce energy consumption via intelligent automation, and be “sovereign cloud ready” to meet data localization rules samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. This deployment also highlights the trend of telcos evolving into cloud providers in their own right – their data centers now host not just internal network functions but also consumer and enterprise applications (sometimes in partnership with hyperscalers).
Meanwhile, Cisco – traditionally strong in enterprise and data center networking – is aligning its portfolio to telecom needs in the AI era. At Cisco Live (its annual conference, held June 2025 in San Diego), Cisco unveiled a wave of products and presented research signaling a “major infrastructure shift.” A Cisco study released June 4 found that 97% of IT leaders at companies (including service providers) believe modernized networks are critical for deploying AI, IoT, and cloud, and 91% plan to increase network investment accordingly newsroom.cisco.com newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco’s findings show nearly all operators see secure, resilient networking as mission-critical – e.g., 95% say network resilience is essential and outages (often caused by congestion or cyberattacks) cost the industry $160 billion annually newsroom.cisco.com newsroom.cisco.com. Notably, 98% of leaders say autonomous, AI-powered networks will be essential for future growth, yet only 41% have started deploying such capabilities newsroom.cisco.com. This underscores a big opportunity for vendors to supply smarter networking tools. At the event, Cisco rolled out what it calls a “Secure Distributed Network” architecture aimed at AI-era needs newsroom.cisco.com. This includes new Silicon One switching silicon, AI-optimized Nexus switches, and security features that embed into the network fabric. Cisco emphasizes an end-to-end approach from campus networks to data center cores, with AI/ML used for predictive analytics (finding network issues before they happen) and for scaling to handle huge AI training data flows. One headline from Cisco Live was doubling down on integrating security and networking – essentially treating them as one fabric. For telcos, this means networks that can automatically defend against threats while adjusting to surges in traffic from things like AI models or IoT devices.
In sum, telecom network infrastructure is increasingly software-defined, automated, and cloud-integrated. The period of June–July 2025 saw operators upgrading everything from core routers to RAN radios with an eye toward automation and efficiency. AI is a common thread: whether it’s AI managing the network (Nokia’s fabric, Ericsson’s AI NOCs, Cisco’s research) or networks supporting AI applications (low-latency slices for AR/VR, high-bandwidth pipes for AI agent data). Data centers – once the domain of IT and cloud companies – are now critical to telcos as they host virtualized network functions (VNFs), 5G core software, and edge computing platforms. We also see traditional boundaries blurring: vendors like Nokia and Cisco that built telecom gear are now providing data center switches and cloud software, while operators are partnering with cloud giants and even selling computing services (e.g. edge cloud offerings) to their customers. This convergence is only accelerating as 5G matures and we look toward 6G.
Major Company Highlights (June–July 2025)
To contextualize the developments, here is a summary of key announcements and news from major telecom infrastructure vendors during June and early July 2025, organized by company and region:
| Company | Americas (North & Latin America) | Europe | Asia–Pacific | Middle East & Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ericsson | – North America: Published June Mobility Report with global 5G insights (e.g. NA mid-band 5G >90% population coverage) ericsson.com. – Latin America: Continued 5G deployments (no major LATAM-specific news in June). | – Emphasized energy-efficient 5G upgrades for European operators (Ericsson gear helping mid-band 5G reach ~50% of EU population) ericsson.com. – No major new contracts announced in Western Europe in June (focus on supporting ongoing rollouts). | – South Asia: Won a multi-year managed services contract from Bharti Airtel in India to run its network operations, leveraging AI for efficiencyairtel.in. – Southeast Asia: Partnered with CelcomDigi in Malaysia to develop AI-driven autonomous network operations (contract signed in Q2) telecomlead.com. – Oceania: Signed an agreement with Optus (Australia) to supply innovative 5G antennas improving performance & energy use ericsson.com. | – Middle East: Continued supporting Gulf operators’ 5G expansions (e.g. Zain KSA, stc) – Ericsson was the first to launch 5G in many ME markets (no new June deals announced). – Africa: Ericsson’s June report highlighted Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth: 5G subscriptions expected ~400 million by 2030, with FWA helping connectivity ericsson.com. |
| Nokia | – North America: Selected by City of Elberton, Georgia (USA) to replace its cable system with a next-gen fiber network (XGS-PON and 25G PON ready) globenewswire.com globenewswire.com. – Achieved milestone of 30M U.S. homes passed with Nokia fiber tech via AT&T’s network (AT&T fiber footprint expansion) about.att.com. – Ramping private wireless and data center deals with US enterprises (e.g. CoreSite data centers routing solution in May). | – Extended a major 4-year 5.5G network partnership with Elisa in Finland & Estonia, including AirScale RAN upgrades and a new data center fabric with Nokia SR-Linux switches and automation news.europawire.eu news.europawire.eu. This will boost capacity and cut energy use by ~20%. – Supplying 5G core and IP routing upgrades to Elisa, enabling low-latency and high-speed services (for AI, VR, etc.) news.europawire.eu news.europawire.eu. – Continuing 5G deployments across Europe (e.g. in UK, Deutsche Telekom, Orange) and pushing Open RAN trials with partners (no big June announcements, but ongoing). | – Asia-Pacific: Launched Autonomous Network Fabric (global release from Finland) to bring AI-driven automation to operators worldwide nokia.com nokia.com. – Australia: Collaborated with Telstra to open network APIs for developers (June MoU to monetize 5G through API exposure) nokia.com. – Philippines: Chosen by Converge ICT to build advanced data center networks with Nokia’s AI-powered fabric and 7220 IXR switches, prepping for AI and cloud growth samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. – India/China: (Nokia has smaller market share; no major public news in China, while in India Nokia continues to supply Bharti and Jio 5G radios). | – Middle East: Ongoing projects (e.g. Nokia’s deal with stc in Saudi Arabia in late 2024 for 1 Tbps data center interconnect nokia.com). No new June deals announced, but Nokia’s private wireless and IP solutions are present in GCC countries. – Africa: Nokia seeing growth in mobile broadband and fiber projects (e.g. selected by some African ISPs for fiber; no high-profile June news). |
| Huawei | – North America: Essentially no business (excluded from U.S./Canada). Focusing on Latin America in Americas region: continued 4G/5G sales in markets like Brazil, Mexico (often quietly via carriers). No big June announcements publicly. | – Europe: Faced ongoing restrictions – June saw further European debates on phasing out Huawei 5G gear. No significant new contracts (European operators pivot to Ericsson/Nokia). Huawei’s Europe presence now centered on residual 4G and some 5G in Eastern Europe. | – China: Showcased extensive 5G-Advanced (5G-A) solutions at MWC Shanghai, reporting 10 million+ 5G-A users in China and 300+ cities covered prnewswire.com. Pushed “Accelerating the Intelligent World” theme, integrating AI in networks and urging carriers to monetize new 5G-A services prnewswire.com prnewswire.com. – Launched Intelligent Ultra Networking upgrades with China Telecom (e.g. 5G-A uplink pooling tech to enhance upload speeds for users) rcrwireless.com. – Asia (ex-China): Huawei remains a 5G supplier in many Asian markets (Thailand, Philippines, Middle East which we count separate). In June, continued 5G rollouts in ASEAN countries and won some industry awards at MWC Shanghai for network innovations samenacouncil.org. | – Middle East: Strong ongoing 5G role – e.g. Huawei is primary 5G vendor in Saudi, UAE. At MWC Shanghai, Huawei cited Middle East as a fast follower for 5G-A adoption in 2025 prnewswire.com. Likely involved in trial 5.5G projects with Gulf operators (not publicly detailed). – Africa: Huawei continues to lead in African telecom projects (4G expansions, starting 5G in South Africa, etc.). June saw Huawei promoting use of 5G FWA and fintech apps in Africa to drive connectivity (per Ericsson’s reference and Huawei forums) ericsson.com ericsson.com. Huawei’s affordable wireless broadband solutions remain popular for rural Africa (no specific June release, but steady progress). |
| Cisco | – Used Cisco Live (San Diego) to announce new AI-optimized networking products for enterprises and service providers. Emphasized “Secure Network Architecture” blending AI, security, and next-gen routing to handle rising AI/IoT demands newsroom.cisco.com. – Research: Cisco’s June survey of IT leaders in the Americas highlighted that 97% plan to modernize networks for AI/cloud and nearly all expect revenue and cost benefits from smarter networks newsroom.cisco.com newsroom.cisco.com. This drives demand for Cisco’s solutions in the region. – Ongoing engagements with U.S. telcos: Cisco is a key supplier of IP core routers (e.g. AT&T, Verizon), and is involved in rural broadband projects (often via its Meraki and packet networking gear). No specific June telco deals announced in Americas, but steady business (Cisco noted big orders for its 400G routers from hyperscalers and carriers in Q2). | – Europe: Cisco powers many European operators’ IP networks; in 2025 it’s supplying 5G core routing for the likes of Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom. No major new deals publicized in June. However, Cisco’s EMEA CTO Chintan Patel was active in industry forums, highlighting how “AI is changing everything” and the network “will decide the business of tomorrow” – reinforcing Cisco’s push for AI-ready networks newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco also partnered with European banks (e.g. Wells Fargo tech talk via SAMENA) to promote its Silicon One chips for next-gen networks samenacouncil.org. | – Asia-Pacific: Cisco continues to grow in APAC via 5G transport deals (e.g. IP backbones for Indian operators, automation software for Australia/NZ). In June, it’s likely fulfilling its role in Reliance Jio’s ambitious pan-India 5G IP network, which Cisco had partly won earlier. Also, Japanese and Korean operators use Cisco for 5G core routing. – Cisco’s presence at MWC Shanghai was lower-key (focus was on Chinese vendors), but Cisco likely engaged APAC customers on private 5G and automation. Its solutions for mobile edge (Cisco Ultra Packet Core, etc.) are deployed in some APAC networks – though no new announcements in June. | – Middle East & Africa: Cisco traditionally supplies telecom backbones in MEA (routers for STC, Etisalat, African ISP networks). In June no specific public releases, but Cisco is active in capacity upgrades – e.g., helping upgrade backbone of Telkom South Africa (announced earlier in 2025). Cisco’s security products are also used by MEA telcos to safeguard networks. As MEA operators adopt cloud and automation, Cisco is positioned to provide controllers and SDN software. – Cisco’s networking academy and initiatives also continue in Africa, training engineers for new IP and fiber networks (part of long-term ecosystem building). |
| ZTE | – Americas: Very limited presence due to U.S. sanctions. No significant business in North America; minor footprint in Latin America (some optical and mobile gear in Venezuela, Mexico). No June news in Americas. | – Europe: Market share is small (ZTE largely absent from Western Europe 5G). Some presence in Eastern Europe and Russia (though in Russia sanctions make it sensitive). No notable June developments in Europe aside from showcasing products to potential smaller telcos. | – China: Launched cutting-edge 5G-A solutions at MWC Shanghai, notably AgentGuard for AI-driven network assurance samenacouncil.org. Also demonstrated full-stack 5G innovations (from RAN to devices) focusing on “AI for All” and energy efficiency lightreading.com. – Announced with China Telecom a “Premium PON Gateway” all-optical campus network solution (Shanghai pilot), combining fiber broadband, edge computing, and security for enterprise campuses samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org. This is a showcase for smart campus infrastructure leveraging ZTE fiber, AI and power-over-fiber tech. – Continuing massive domestic 5G rollouts: ZTE provides a significant share of China Mobile’s 700MHz 5G and is involved in 5G core deployments. Also active in Private 5G for factories in China. | – Middle East: ZTE has a growing footprint – for example, ZTE is a 5G RAN supplier for Saudi Arabia’s Zain and China Telecom’s Saudi JV. At MWC Shanghai, ZTE highlighted a win of a Catalyst Award with China Telecom, indicating innovative 5G projects (possibly applicable to ME operators) samenacouncil.org. – Africa: ZTE continues 4G/5G deals in markets like Ethiopia, Zambia (often via Chinese funding). No major announcements in June, but they are likely shipping 5G kit for early African 5G launches. ZTE’s low-cost wireless and fiber solutions position it well in developing markets. |
Sources: Company press releases and presentations (Ericsson Mobility Report ericsson.com ericsson.com, Nokia newsroom globenewswire.com news.europawire.eu, Huawei MWC Shanghai briefings prnewswire.com prnewswire.com, Cisco Live announcements newsroom.cisco.com), news articles and analyst reports (TelecomTV telecomtv.com telecomtv.com, Light Reading, Reuters reuters.com, SAMENA Council updates samenacouncil.org samenacouncil.org).
Conclusion
In summary, the telecom infrastructure equipment landscape in mid-2025 is marked by transition and innovation. Market growth has cooled from the torrid pace of initial 5G deployments, pressuring vendors to help operators do more with less – through automation, efficiency, and new revenue-generating services. 5G rollouts continue but with a pivot to 5G-Advanced features and Standalone cores that enable ultra-low latency, higher uplinks, and network slicing. We saw concrete examples like Kuwait’s 5G-A launch and China’s rapid 5.5G uptake, supported by vendors’ advanced RAN and core solutions. Fiber optic expansion remains a backbone: whether it’s AT&T’s nationwide fiber, a small city in Georgia upgrading to 25G PON, or a Shanghai campus getting all-optical connectivity, fiber is crucial for capacity and backhaul, often deployed alongside new edge compute capabilities. Satellite communications have moved from experimental to essential, with T-Mobile’s direct-to-phone service and other initiatives pointing to a hybrid future of terrestrial and satellite networks working together to achieve global coverage. And in the data center and core, telecom operators are embracing cloud principles – automation, virtualization, AI – to run their networks more like hyperscalers, evidenced by Nokia’s Autonomous Fabric and operators like Elisa revamping core and data center fabrics for the 5G era.
Each major vendor has adapted: Ericsson and Nokia focus on end-to-end 5G upgrades and software, Huawei and ZTE leverage China’s scale to push new tech (while also serving emerging markets), Cisco brings its IP and security prowess to help telcos handle AI and cloud demands. The next months will likely see the first outcomes of these June/July initiatives: new 5G-A services launching, automated networks driving down OPEX, and perhaps the first real monetization of 5G beyond data plans (through enterprise solutions or premium consumer offerings). The telecom infrastructure sector in mid-2025 is thus both more cautious and more ambitious – cautious in spending, yet ambitious in transforming networks for a more connected, intelligent future.
